Robert Southey

Robert Southey (August 12, 1774 – March 21, 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and one of the so-called "Lake Poets". Although his fame tends to be eclipsed by that of his contemporaries such as William Wordsworth, Southey's verse enjoys enduring popularity.

Related Topics:
August 12 - 1774 - March 21 - 1843 - English - Poet - Romantic - Lake Poets - William Wordsworth

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He was born in Bristol to Thomas Southey and Margaret Hill and educated at Westminster School (from which he was expelled for writing a magazine article condemning flogging) and Balliol College, Oxford (of his time at Oxford Southey was later to say "All I learnt was a little swimming ... and a little boating."). After experimenting with a writing partnership with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he published his first collection of poems in 1794. The same year, he, Coleridge and a few others discussed setting up an idealistic community in America.

Related Topics:
Bristol - Thomas Southey - Margaret Hill - Westminster School - Flogging - Balliol College, Oxford - Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 1794

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:Their wants would be simple and natural; their toil need not be such as the slaves of luxury endure; where possessions were held in common, each would work for all; in their cottages the best books would have a place; literature and science, bathed anew in the invigorating stream of life and nature, could not but rise reanimated and purified. Each young man should take to himself a mild and lovely woman for his wife; it would be her part to prepare their innocent food, and tend their hardy and beautiful race.

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Later iterations of the plan moved the commune to Wales, but later, Southey was the first of the group to reject the idea as unworkable.

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Southey's wife, Edith, was the sister of Coleridge's wife. The Southeys set up home at Greta Hall, Keswick, in the Lake District, living on a tiny income. From 1809, he contributed to the Quarterly Review, and had become so well-known by 1813 that he was appointed Poet Laureate.

Related Topics:
Keswick - Lake District - 1809 - 1813 - Poet Laureate

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In 1819, through a mutual friend (John Rickman), Southey met leading civil engineer Thomas Telford and struck up a strong friendship. From mid-August to 1 October 1819, Southey accompanied Telford on an extensive tour of his engineering projects in the Scottish Highlands, keeping a diary of his observations.

Related Topics:
1819 - John Rickman - Civil engineer - Thomas Telford - 1 October - Scottish Highlands

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In 1838, Edith died and Southey married Caroline Anne Bowles, also a poet. Many of his poems are still read by schoolchildren, the best-known being The Inchcape Rock and After Blenheim (possibly one of the earliest anti-war poems).

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